eBay - Product and Shipping Prices

Once you have established an eBay Seller account and fidgured out what kind of items you're going to be selling, the fun really begins.

 

Rummaging through the attic, basement, or garage has probably given you quite a bit of products that may be sold on eBay or you may be selling handmade or new products. But how should you price your items? What amount of shipping should you charge?

 

Well, product pricing, shipping costs, and commission fees all need to be calculated to determine whether or not it is going to be a profitable endeavor for you.

 

The following example is for a Fixed Price Listing but you can apply the same principles for shipping or when adding a reserve on an item.

 

Let's say for instance that you have a piece of luggage you want to sell. A quick search on eBay is going to give you thousands, if not tens of thousands of results, and prices ranging from $0.99 to hundreds of dollars. Not very helpful. So we need to narrow our parameters.

 

Click the Completed Listings link in the left margin. This will show you all of the listings that have ended within the last 30 days. Still a lot of listings, however you are only interested in the prices in green. These are sold items. Take an average of the sold listings for your base price, and adjust for condition, and rarity of the model/line that you may have. Let's say you come up with $45 as your base price.

 

Now we need to factor in shipping.

 

Your suitcase may not be very heavy, but it is bulky, and shipping companies calculate cost based on dimensional weight as well as how many pounds the item weighs. Once you have surmised the weight and dimensions of the product, you can calculate an estimated shipping cost by going to the USPS website. Simply click Calculate a Price, and you will be prompted to enter weight and dimensions of your item. You will also need to enter a zip code for your destination. At this point you may be asking: how do I know where it's going!?! Of course you don't know, so you need to improvise. Punch in your home zip code, and enter the furthest zip code (major city) from your location. Once all this information is entered, you will be presented with several options. For a suitcase, Standard shipping would be the way to ship. You can find this price by clicking Other Options. You may be surprised at just how much it costs to ship! Of course, smaller and less heavy items will be a lot easier to calculate shipping costs.

 

You could also list your products with Free Shipping on eBay. Now is it really free? Of course not, you simply build the shipping cost into your listing price and you receive several benefits for doing so. Customers always want to feel as if they are receiving something for free and shipping is no different. It also becomes a "no-brainer" as the potential buyer doesn't need to calculate two separate prices for their purchase. Also, eBay rewards sellers that offer free shipping on their products with a 20% discount on fees once they have reached Power Seller status (more on this in a future article).

 

Now that you have come up with your base price, and your shipping cost you need to set your final price. So, $70 for a piece of used luggage seems a little high, so you could bring the price down to $59.95 and see what kind of response you receive. Now that you have set your pricing and calculated how much it will cost to ship, the next step is to get your items listed and start selling!!